A little fatherly advice from Arthur
by dryswan79
Summary: All is not well with Ron and Hermione - until Arthur gives them a little fatherly advice


He had waited until Molly had gone out for the day to tinker with the bathroom. She had tried numerous times to convince him that Bert the Waterworks Wiz-Kid from the nearby village was much better at tackling the Burrow's complicated plumbing but Arthur preferred to have a go at it using muggle techniques.

Thankfully he had plenty of time to fix the shattered pipes and mop up the flooded floor before she got back.

He was just about to head to the kitchen when he heard groaning from Ron and Hermione's room. Perhaps she had overdone it on the sherry trifle at dinner last night, it wouldn't be the first time someone had a tummy ache from Molly's dubious cooking. A moment later, he realized it wasn't _that_ sort of groaning. He knew she was alone, having seen Ron, Harry and Ginny go up to the paddock for a quick quidditch match. There was a sudden angry and impatient huff and what sounded like someone thumping the mattress in frustration. Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping, Arthur took off his shoes and scampered downstairs in his worn-out socks.

A minute or two later, Hermione came down to the lounge where Arthur was sitting, engrossed in that day's Daily Prophet and dropped into one of the squishy armchairs. Arthur peered at her over the top of his newspaper. She was looking into the empty fireplace, absent mindedly picking at the loose threads on the cuff of her old sweatshirt.

Arthur folded the paper and asked "Hermione, are you and Ron happy?"

She looked startled at the question. "Yes, of course. It's been 3 years now since we married."

Arthur made a sort of non-committal noise.

"Why do you ask?" she continued.

"Because you don't look happy, either of you" he replied.

"Well, we're both quite tired. Work's busy for us both right now."

Arthur raised an eyebrow "You're just tired?" He paused. "May I ask a few possibly impertinent questions and then give you some advice?"

Hermione thought for a moment, then nodded.

"As you say, it's been 3 years since you married. 5 years since the end of the war. A lot has happened in the decade or so since you met, a lot has changed."

She nodded again "We're not the same people we were when we met on the train all those years ago."

"And that's not a bad thing" Arthur continued. "But I've noticed, when we're all together, that you and Ron don't seem to chat to each other very much now. Do you tell each other about your days at the office?"

"Not really. Ron says that some of the stuff he sees at work is pretty graphic and he prefers to leave all that side of things outside the door. Home is his place of safety, a kind of retreat. And he said he doesn't want to scare me with it all."

"Scare you." Arthur replied, flatly "Um. Second wizarding war ring any bells? Hermione, you saw things during the war that would scare the pants off a lesser witch. And do you tell him about your work?"

She shook her head "I dunno, I think, maybe it's a bit boring and unimportant."

"Do _you_ think it's boring and unimportant?"

"Not at all!" she replied, and launched enthusiastically into great detail about the current projects she was working on, her team's successes, the tough challenges they were facing. She realized after a few minutes that she was rambling on, and tailed off.

"So why don't you tell Ron all of that?" asked Arthur, Hermione shrugged in reply.

"Do you know the most important thing to remember when a couple have full time, time consuming jobs? Never become so caught up in your own world that you lose sight of the other's. Molly and I made that mistake early on, it nearly cost us our marriage."

Hermione stared "You and Molly?"

"Oh yes. Did you know she worked at the ministry before marrying me?"

"Ron said she was a junior secretary in the Auror's department."

"She started up the TCT." smiled Arthur.

"What? The Temporal Crime Team? Molly was a… a ghost?"

"Still is! Whenever she says she's going out shopping and comes home not having bought anything – where do you think she is? Well, I should say _when_ do you think she is. Hopping around on the timeline, it's the most heavily regulated part of the profession. It would be so easy to tweak history to change the present and direct the future. It's also the most dangerous branch of the Aurors. Depending on the case, I don't always know when or even if I'll see her again."

"Hang on, hang on. I thought the TCT was created by Mary Prewett."

"Molly's mum was called Mary so she was named after her. While her mum was alive, they called their little girl Molly."

"But" Hermione looked at Arthur, horrified "her parents, they were Mary and Wilf Prewett?"

"You know your history, what happened during the first wizarding war."

The blood drained from Hermione's face and she looked nauseous "what he did to them was… horrific. Wait – did Molly see-?"

"Not at the time. But being able to go back through time, you can imagine how hard it is for her, the temptation to give her parents a warning, Fred… Remus…"

There was a long pause as both Hermione and Arthur remembered friends passed.

"I've read some of the conspiracy theories about what the the Ghosts get up to. Does she really do the whole 'take a stitch in time' thing when they need to repair history?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, although it's difficult and dangerous magic. She explained it to me as cutting a bit of burned cloth out of a patterned cloak. You have to make sure the clean edges line up perfectly. The memory charms are a fine balance, do you ever have one of those moments where you're sure you remember doing something but you realise it's just your memory playing tricks?"

Hermione sat back in her chair, amazed. "Wow"

"Quite. And so, when babies started coming along, we had to decide whose career was most important. It wasn't easy to accept that Molly's was more important than mine. It goes against all the stereotypes, certainly at the time. I gave up working in magical research and spell development to stay home with the children and when they were old enough, I applied for my old job back but they offered me a straight choice between unemployment and muggle artifacts. I hadn't really had time to keep up with the current research and changes in the industry, my knowledge was a bit rusty. So I just had to accept artifacts. I wasn't keen on it at the time, it felt like the least glamourous job and I could tell all my peers were looking down their noses at me."

He sighed and smiled across at Hermione, "Anyway. All this to say 'start talking to each other before it's too late'. And, um, maybe take a look at personal appearance?"

She sat up, looking rather affronted "Are you saying I look scruffy?"

"I'm saying you both do. You've stopped making an effort. When was the last time either of you had a haircut you didn't do yourself with magic? Yep. Thought so. Get a new do, then go out for dinner or one of those movie things."

"Yeah, but we work late most nights."

"_Y__ou_ work late because _he's _not at home because _he's _working late because _you're _not at home so you're working late and so on and so on? Yes, your work is important. But your relationship is so much more. If either of you stopped working tomorrow, for whatever reason, what would you have in common now?"

Hermione was pensive "We _have _sort of let things slide."

"Including sex?"

She blushed bright red and looked at Arthur, clearly embarrassed and jumped as a side table by the lounge window suddenly rocked on its legs and the vase on it rolled off and smashed on the bare floorboards.

Arthur shrugged "Part time poltergeist. Anyway, I heard you earlier. I really didn't intend to."

"I guess most of the time we use the excuse of being tired but, well, we're not really inspired and… um… sometimes… really, not very often at all, I mean… Ron's really attentive. But sometimes, well, it's kind of he sort of, gets there first and I… um…"

"To put it bluntly, he comes off first and leaves you aroused but unfulfilled." replied Arthur, frowning slightly at the threadbare rug under Hermione's chair.

From behind her hands, Hermione nodded.

"Get that fire back, because one day – gods willing – you might have babies and you'll need that closeness, that mutual support." Hermione flinched at his words.

"Ah" said Arthur. After a few moments, he picked up a nearby stool and moved to sit in front of Hermione. Her hands were balled up fists in her lap. "I thought so" he continued gently. "I recognize the signs. And each time you've told yourself it's all _your_ fault. Something you did or didn't do, you let yourself get too tired, you ate something you shouldn't have, you overdid it on the exercise. Or something else. Something to do with the war."

She let out an involuntary sob.

"Oh Hermione. Is that woman still torturing you? After all these years?"

"I- I- I keep asking myself, did- did she do something to me, that day at Malfoy Manor, when she-" and between sobs she continued "Ron wants babies, I know he does, he wants them so much, but I can't. I can't give them to him and it's just.." her voice failed and she began to weep silently.

Arthur waited then said "Do you know he blames himself too?"

"Why would he?"

"Probably for similar reasons as you. Am I right Ron?"

"Yeah. Every day." replied Ron.

Hermione let out a startled cry as Ron, standing behind her chair, shrugged off Harry's invisibility cloak, drying his eyes on his shirt sleeve.

His face was pale and tear streaked. "That bloody horcrux. That's what scares me. I carried it for ages then smashed it. Did it curse me when I destroyed it? I just don't know."

Ron knelt down beside Hermione, took her fists and tried to uncurl her fingers. Arthur watched them for a moment, then got to his feet. "Come outside you two."

They followed him out into the garden where Arthur drew his wand and asked "How many? 5? 6?"

"6" replied Ron. Arthur conjured up 6 white balloons on strings and handed them to Ron and Hermione.

"Hold these both of you, and when I count to three, let them go. 1, 2,"

"I can't!" burst out Ron.

"You can" said Hermione softly "_We_ can". They stood looking at each other and at length Ron nodded and said "3."

The pair stood still watching the balloons as a gust of wind carried them away to the end of the garden, over the fence, up and over the trees and out of sight. When the last balloon disappeared from view they sank to the ground, finally sharing their grief while Arthur quietly crept back to house.

It was nearly half an hour later when Ron and Hermione returned.

"Come and take a seat" said Arthur, gesturing to the sofa. With pleasure he noticed the change which had come over his son and daughter-in-law in such a short time. They sat closer to each other, Ron's arm around Hermione, she leaning her head back to rest on Ron's shoulder.

"Dad, how did you know I was here?"

"Are you serious? The table you bumped into? The broken vase? And who didn't take their mucky shoes off before coming into the house?"

A telltale trail of muddy footprints stretched from the kitchen to the chair Hermione had been sitting on.

"Ah. Busted."

"Quite. You can clean it up before your mother gets home. Now. I think you mentioned something about a lack of inspiration so perhaps this might help."

A snap of his fingers and a large leather-bound book landed on Hermione's lap. She opened to the front page, squeaked and slammed the book shut.

Smiling at them, Arthur continued, "Think of it like the Kama Sutra but with a certain... magical twist."

"What's the Kama Sutra?" asked Ron, then glancing down he blurted out "bloody hell!"

Hermione continued leafing through the pages while Arthur sipped a cup of tea he had summoned from the kitchen and said "our particular favourite is page 103."

The look Ron gave his father said quite clearly that details of his parents' sex life were distinctly Too Much Information. Then he turned his attention back to the book.

"Hang on Hermione, go back a couple of pages. Hm. I think we could master that one quite easily. Don't you?" and looking at his father he went on "Would you excuse us? We have a _lot_ of catching up to do. Probably won't be back for dinner." And with that, he took his wife's wrist and disapparated them, and the book, back to their home on the Sussex downs.

-0-

"Then I gave them the book and they zipped off home. That must be, oh, 2 hours ago now" said Arthur.

"Well done, dear" replied Molly.

Arthur, glanced over then suddenly sat bolt upright, looking at his wife.

"You're knitting!" he said, accusingly. "You're knitting something small and _pink._"

"So?" enquired Molly, sharply "There's nothing wrong with me knitting something pink."

Arthur narrowed his eyes "You little cheat! You knew I'd given them the book and skipped forward nine months on your way home."

"I did not!" she cried, trying, and failing, to sound offended.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh Arthur" Molly wheedled "I couldn't help it. She's such a pretty little baby"

"And Hermione?"

"It'll be a long labour and she'll be really tired but no complications."

Arthur shook his head, smiling "You naughty old softie."

Molly waved a hand at him "Well, you can tell me off properly later on."

Turning his attention back to the discarded newspaper, Arthur said "page 227 then? It's been a while since we tried that one."


End file.
